This invention pertains to methods of identification principally of meat carcasses after slaughter of an animal.
Early slaughterers of meat animals bought the animals based on the appearance and weight of the animal. Thus, considerable reliance was placed on the buyer to be a good judge of the grade of meat the animal would produce. Much of the judgement was based on the appearance of the animal together with knowledge of the producer and his methods of raising livestock.
As feed lots have increased in production so that there is less personal attention to each lot of livestock, less reliance can be placed on such knowledge. Therefore, buyers increasingly prefer to buy livestock depending on how each carcass grades and the weight of the carcass after it has been properly trimmed after slaughter. However, such a system of payment requires that each carcass be identified and be kept separate until the weight and grade have been determined.
There are many methods used for maintaining identification. Tags using bar codes or visibly distinguishing marks have been used. Such tags also provide good identification for as long as the tag stays with the carcass. However, there may be frequent separation of the tag from the carcass, causing a total loss of identification. Radio transmitter devices may be attached to the carcass, and then transmitter frequencies can be used to identify the carcass. Any device requiring attachment to the carcass itself presents a risk of contamination of the carcass as well as of disengagement. Electronic devices may also suffer from the bumping and other rough treatment inherent in the process.
By the present invention, each trolley which carries a carcass is coded by means of perforations through a part of the trolley. The perforations are individually patterned for each trolley so that the pattern is machine readable, thus providing a positive identification of that trolley. So long as a carcass and trolley are kept together, the carcass is thus identified. This identification is maintained through the process of grading and weighing until the carcass is ready for shipping or cutting. It will be noted that a trolley may be identified with a particular carcass, or might be used to identify a producer so that the grades and weights may be attributed by the computer to a given producer or seller.